The company has agreed to sell 462 million H-shares priced at HK$22.5 per share – equivalent to a 2.6 per cent discount to the closing price on Thursday, the day before the subscription agreement was signed – through a private placement, according to a filing with the Shanghai Stock Exchange

The trio acquire 55.2 million shares, 241.3 million shares and 165.5 million shares respectively.

Carlyle edged one step closer to realising its largest ever cash exit after selling a further 220 million shares in CPI in July, a move that made the global buyout heavyweight HK$5.61bn ($723.3m).

Shares were sold at HK$25.5 each, and were offered at an indicative range of HK$25.50 to $26.00, or a discount of 3.3 per cent to 5.2 per cent to the Friday July 20 close of HK$26.9.

Carlyle has invested about $800m in the company between 2005 and 2007 in return for a 17 per cent stake, which is now understood to have fallen to less than five per cent.